


Mass Effect: Next Gen

by IllusiveWritings, shipsnthenight



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Destroy Ending, Family Fluff, Gen, Mostly funny snippets, Next Generation, No Shepard Without Vakarian, One Shot Collection, Paragon Shepard (Mass Effect), Post-War, Sassy Daddy Shepard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:01:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23628871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllusiveWritings/pseuds/IllusiveWritings, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipsnthenight/pseuds/shipsnthenight
Summary: There's a new generation aboard the Normandy, ready to take follow the footsteps of the crew that saved the Galaxy.A collection of loosely related one-shots about the life and adventures of the new crew of the Normandy SR2.Written by IllusiveWritings and illustrated and inspired by shipsnthenight.
Relationships: Female Shepard/Liara T'Soni
Comments: 6
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

_ This is a bad idea… _

The young Asari sat in the back of the room, arms folded across her chest and leaning heavily on the thick plastic backrest of the chair, when she saw Major Aleksej Petrovsky walking inside, and sighed when the stiff navy officer called for silence. Everyone quickly took a seat in the chairs and, as asked, shut up. 

Major Petrovsky was known for two things in the ranks of the Alliance: he was harsh and demanding, and he was a racist. He tried his best not to let people realize that last part, but it was widely acknowledged that he didn’t stand aliens and if possible didn’t want to deal with them, no matter if they were superiors or inferior ranks. 

The Asari, Mira, wondered which idiot had decided to assign the task force to him when it included two aliens in the actual team, plus two more as ground support, but kept her mouth shut, opened the datapad and listened. Major Petrovsky took a long look at the squad in front of him, gritted his teeth and shook his head. He was pissed, to put it mildly.

“Very well. This task force has been put together to investigate and if possible stop a gang of unidentified space pirates that has been raiding transport ships headed towards human colonies in the Terminus Systems. The Alliance wants us to find them, flush them out of their hideouts and apprehend them. You already have all the data in the file you’ve been sent to, you can study that after we’re done with this meeting. Now, down to the important stuff…” 

_ Oh, here it comes… _ thought Mira. Her father had talked multiple times over the years about the bad attitude Petrovsky sported, always bitter at life, no matter the circumstances. He had been a constant pain in the ass of the Alliance ever since he rose through the ranks, between the not so well hidden racism and the tendency to go above and beyond his duties, often endangering whole operations by doing so.

The problem was he usually managed to do what he had been ordered, with minimal if not no losses. He was a good soldier, a quick thinker and definitely a good squad leader, he just had the diplomatic skills of a sloth with cerebral palsy, her father’s words, not hers, and actually deserved his career. It wasn’t spotless, there were more than a few reprimands and even a suspension for insubordination on his rap sheet, but he had deserved every rank he had ascended. 

“Now, you’re mostly cadets at your first or one of your firsts outings as Alliance soldiers. I’ve already read all your files and I’m afraid you’re in for a bad wakeup call, all of you!” he said, through clenched teeth. “Most of you never left the cozyness of Earth, or your homeplanet, other than the time you needed to get to the Alliance Academy, you’re all young enough to be blissfully ignorant of the horrors of the Reaper Wars…”

_ So are you, dickhead… _

Aleksej Petrovsky wasn’t much older than her, and she was born five years after the end of the War, sure as a ryncol hangover he never saw even a bit of rubble of the aftermath of the war, let alone the war itself. And it wasn’t her first assignment. And she was born and had grown up on the Citadel, travelling around the galaxy with her parents. That guy hadn’t read their files at all, she could bet half of her paycheck on it. 

Sighing, she looked at Adrien, the other alien in the task force, a Turian. He shrugged his bony shoulders and leaned back on his chair, slightly shaking his head. They had known each other since childhood, though Adrien was older than her. An actual war orphan, adopted by a high ranking Turian officer and his wife, he had little to no recollection of the war itself, but both parents, just like hers, were veterans and had seen first hand what it was. Despite it being second hand knowledge, they knew very well the destruction the war had brought. Both their fathers still had scars to prove it.

She bit her tongue and let him go forth with his pep talk, or what he was sure was a pep talk. 

“We’ll be gone for a long time. Prepare for that. Space is cold and unforgiving, one misstep and you’re done for. Remember that, every time we go out might be the last time you take a breath inside your helmet.”

_ Good thing I have a N7 one… _

Mira was the only N7 alumni of the group. There was a N4 and a N5, but she was the only one that had completed the course. That didn’t mean she was better than any other in the task force, Petrovsky too was a N7, it just meant she had a better understanding of their immediate future, having studied and worked hard for that insignia on her armor, both in class and on the field, during deployment.

“We will encounter ruthless criminals that won’t hesitate to throw a grenade at us, we must be smarter and quicker than them. This task force was put together because you were all trained for that and you came highly recommended by your instructors and superiors. Don’t fail them. We leave tomorrow at 9 o’clock, dock 24. Don’t be late. Dismissed!”

They stood up and saluted. “Aye Major!” they called, altogether. 

“Just one more thing. We’re being sent to protect human colonies. Don’t forget that.” 

_ Oh come on… _

“I’m talking about you two… T’Soni and Vakarian, right?” he squinted at them. “Now that we’re here, come with me. I want to have a chat with the officer responsible for this task force. You two have no place here, this is a human matter, human lives are at stake, I don’t want you on my team.” 

Adrien sighed, but said nothing, but Mira’d had enough. “Be our guest, Major,” she quipped, bitterly. 

Petrovsky smiled, gleefully. He was already tasting victory, he was really convinced he was going to get them kicked off the task force. On what grounds, only he knew, but he seemed pretty confident he would pull this off and get them out of the group. 

“Come with me,” he ordered, and exited the room. They walked behind him, having to hasten their pace to keep up with him, as he walked down the hallway to an Alliance clerk and asked where to find the person in charge of the task force. 

Mira chuckled. “He doesn’t even know who he’s working for. When was he appointed, five minutes before the briefing?” 

Adrien shrugged his shoulders again. “No idea,” he whispered. “Doesn’t look like he cares much though, he really wants us off the team.” 

“Yeah, I noticed. He’s not even asking who is in charge, but here they are!”

Major Petrovsky headed down another hallway to their left, turned right and then called the elevator. Mira had a feeling she knew where they were going, but kept quiet and followed the Major without a word. Then he punched, literally, the button for the forty second floor and she had a very clear idea where they were going. She nudged Adrien in the ribs, and they smiled. They were in for a ride!

As soon as they reached the selected floor, Petrovsky headed up ahead and stopped at the last office of the corridor.  _ Admiral Shepard _ read the plaque on the door. 

Mira barely held back a boastful laughter, enough that Petrovsky didn’t notice her, but Adrien, knowing her, did. 

“Spirits, Mira, are you even trying to keep it together?” he asked.

She swallowed a chuckle. “Oh Adrien, this is going to be glorious!”

Petrovsky knocked on the door and was invited in by a voice inside. “Come in!”

He opened the door and walked inside. Admiral Shepard sat behind her desk, intently studying a datapad in front of her. “What is it, Major Petrovsky?” asked the Admiral, barely looking up at him.

“I’ve been appointed to the anti piracy task force, may I speak with you?”

The Admiral nodded. “Sure, what about it?”

“I want Lieutenant T’Soni and Sargeant Vakarian removed from the task force.” 

Shepard sighed. “On what grounds? They’re part of the Alliance, they have all the rights and the capabilities to be in your task force, they were selected based on the needs of the mission, basing the criteria of choice on the requisition. They come highly recommended by their instructors and their superiors, why do you want them out?” 

“This is a human affair, it relates to human colonies, aliens have no place in the task force!” exclaimed Petrovsky. “I want them out!”

Shepard rolled her eyes and moved slightly away from the desk, pushing the wheelchair she was bound on away from the table. “Major Petrovsky, you know very well the Alliance now welcomes all races, it has been like this for at least two decades now. They swore allegiance, why should they be removed from this task force?” 

“Admiral, with all the due respect, they are aliens. No matter what pledge of allegiance they might have taken, they are and will be aliens, far away removed from the cause of humanity…” 

_ You have no fucking idea then… _ thought Mira, biting her tongue not to laugh out loud. 

“They are surely more likely to side for the pirates' cause than ours!”

Shepard sighed. “No they aren’t. If you had read the intel you would know that the pirates are most likely Batarians, no Turians or Asari involved. Not to mention that these two specifically are the son and the daughter of Reaper War veterans, they are faithfully committed to the Alliance. They could have signed up for the Turian’s Army or the Asari Commandos, but they are here.” 

“It’s easier to get in the Alliance than the Turian Army or the Commandos, Admiral!” Petrovsky bit back.

“No, it is not. You have a N7 graduate and a highly trained weapons specialist. You’re going on with an easy assignment…” Mira laughed softly when the Admiral described the assignment as easy “With the son of the Turian that devised the weaponry of the ship you’re going with, not to mention he’s the son of the Quarian that held the engine together for more than ten years, even back when the ship was flying under Cerberus insignias. The Asari alone is one of our best biotics specialists. What do you want more?” 

“Humans, Admiral,” he quipped. “I want humans.” 

“Well you can’t have them, because we don’t have anyone better to spare. Actually, we don’t have anyone better, period. Make it work, Petrovsky, or I’ll have you removed and replaced.” 

The Major was fuming. Mira could nearly see the smoke coming out of his ears, while Adrian barely held back a laugh himself. 

“This is my last warning Petrovsky. I won’t tolerate your racism anymore. It doesn’t matter if you come from a family with tight ties to Cerberus, you’re pushing your luck too far, calm down and forget it. Racism has no place in my navy, clear? You’re dismissed.”

Petrovsky grunted, angry, and gritted his teeth before turning around and stomping out of the office, defeated.

The three of them saluted and moved for the door. “T’Soni, wait. I need to talk to you.” 

“Yes Sir!” 

When the door closed behind Petrovsky and Vakarian, Mira relaxed a bit and turned towards the Admiral. “What?” 

“Does he know?” 

She shrugged. “I don’t know Dad. I doubt it though.” 

Smiling, her father, the one and only Admiral Shepard, gestured to her to come closer. She obeyed, dragging a chair from the front of her father then sat down. “He wouldn’t have dragged you and Adrien up here, if he knew who you were,” she explained, taking her daughter’s hands in hers. “Why don’t you add my last name to your profile? Things like this wouldn’t happen if you did?” 

“Dad, I don’t want a fast track in the ranks just because I’m your daughter. Mom’s name is heavy enough, yours would just make it worse!” explained Mira. “And I don’t want others like Adrien being pushed back just because of my last name.” 

“Uhm, I know… it's just that mom’s name doesn’t carry much weight in the Alliance. On Thessia on the other hand…” 

“I don’t want to join the Commandos, Dad!”

“I never said you should. I was just mentioning the fact that despite everything your Mother has done for the Alliance, her name carries little importance for the high ups here.” 

“Except for you.” 

Shepard nodded.” Except for me,” she smiled. “Come here baby, you look like you need a hug.” 

Lazily, Mira let her father drag her on her lap and into a tight hug. No matter if she was already twenty six, and by Asari’s standards she was pretty much a child, but by human years she was an adult, she was still very attached to both her parents, and she loved the fact that despite her age, both of them were always more than happy to cuddle a little bit. Not because they thought she was still a child or anything, just because it felt good.

And it did feel good.

“How are your legs?” 

“Same old, pins and needles. Miranda should have the new implant ready next month, I’ll be up and running before you come back from your assignment.” 

“Will she ever stop trying rebuilding you?” 

Her dad shook her head. “I don’t think so. She made it a mission, I guess I’ll be stuck with her for as long as I live.” 

“Can she make an AI of you? I don’t want to let you go!” 

Shepard kissed her temple and held her close. “Oh baby Squid, you’ll be fine. And I won’t be gone for a long time! You won’t get rid of me for a long, long time! Working legs or not!”

“Promise?” 

“Promise” Shepard chuckled then. “What would your N7 instructor say if she saw you now?” 

_ Always that joke… _ Mira sighed. “Dad,  _ you _ are my N7 instructor!” she replied, slightly bored by the dad joke that kept coming every time they engaged in some father-daughter PDA. Even in the privacy of her office.

“You hate it when I tell you that! Now go, you’ve got to get ready before deployment and I’ve got some crap to deal with, between the Alliance and the Council.” 

Mira stood on her feet and kissed her dad’s cheek. “Still trying to drag you into politics?” 

“Uh, I hope they’re not holding their breaths, because I’ll never drop the chance to command a ship for politics. No matter if my legs sometimes fail me and I have to be removed for a period of time.” 

“Yeah, wheelchairs don’t work that good on the Normandy.” 

“And I probably should stop headbutting every person that crosses me, except for Wrex. Diplomacy gets tough when I do that.” 

“That too. I’ll be going, Dad. See you tonight for dinner!”

Shepard nodded. “Don’t be late! Mom’s not going to be happy if you’re late for our last family dinner before deployment!”

Mira felt her shoulders sag. “Can I go and have drinks with the guys later though?” 

“Just don’t get too drunk, you know I can’t come and get you and Mom hates picking you up.” 

“Yeah yeah, I know… how about you get a paraplegic friendly shuttle? You know, for those times when Miranda isn’t there to repair your implants?” she asked from the doorway.

“How about you don’t get drunk, period?” 


	2. Priority: Parenting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have already seen the illustration on Tumblr, unlike the first chapter this was born in reverse, Shipsnthenight made the illustration and I backtracked on it adding context. That's it. Just a little bit of Sassy Daddy Shepard fun. 
> 
> Also, this is set before the first chapter, a few years before that scene. 
> 
> Have fun and stay safe!

It had been a beautiful family night. Shepard had a free day of medical leave, after a quick tune up of her cybernetics before she headed to the Citadel for a week of boring political meetings, Liara had managed to settle her dealings with the Shadow Broker and the system was on low maintenance for a few days, Mira had just come home for a two-week leave from her N7 training and baby Lena had eaten her dinner without a fuss and without making a mess requiring a full bath for once. 

“You’ve got to cut Mom and Dad some slack, little Squid!” exclaimed Mira as she pulled the baby Asari from her high chair and quickly cleaned her face with the soft terry cloth bib hanging from her neck, while their parents cleaned up the kitchen after dinner. “Just wait a few months when you have all your teeth and then we’ll go eat some real food, not this tasteless mush, but for now, that’s it, you have to be patient!”

“Well, don’t think you were less fussy about the  _ tasteless mush _ !” added their father as she loaded the dishwasher. “Weaning you was no easy feat too, we’re prepared, don’t worry.” 

“If this is what you gave me when I was her age, I’m not surprised. It looks disgusting!” Mira exclaimed, as she gently tickled Lena’s side, earning a giggle from her sister.

“It’s not that bad, it just looks bad and she isn’t used to the taste, she’ll get over it with time, just as you did,” explained Liara. “Also, you really really liked when we added prune juice to your veggie soup, you’re hardly allowed to judge baby food tastes.” 

Mira frowned. “Prune juice?” 

Shepard nodded and took Lena from her older daughter arms. “Yep, prune juice. We bought so much of it once since it was on sale at the store that the cashier thought we were all constipated. But no, you just liked your veggie soup spiked with it. I wonder if your sister is going to follow your path too, we could try!”

Liara shook her head. “I’m not going to eat the leftovers though.” 

“I’m quite sure it could work as a plant fertilizer, don’t worry about leftovers. Come on you, let’s get you all washed up and ready for bed.”

“Isn’t it a little early for that? We just ate and I wanted to play with her a little!” 

“She said  _ ready for bed _ ,” replied Liara. “You can play all you want with her, don’t worry. You can even try and put her to sleep if you’re brave enough!” 

The sly smile on Mira’s face showed them that she took it as a challenge and she extended her arms towards Lena. “Give her back Dad, I’ll take care of her tonight.” 

* * *

Well, it was working. For the very first time ever since Lena was born, Shepard and Liara had the evening for themselves. Fully invested in the  _ big sister _ role, Mira had took great care of her little sister, making sure she was ready for as soon as she got sleepy enough to be put in her bed and was now playing with her in her room. The noises coming from down the hallway were almost too cute to be true. 

The two parents managed to enjoy a full vid without being interrupted once, cuddled on the couch like they did when they were younger and childless. When Mira had decided to enlist in the Alliance, four years back, they had that kind of time together again, but after a few years of coming home to a too silent home with only each other and Glyph to greet, they had decided to have another child and Lena had been born. Too bad they now never had a moment for themselves. Or at least, they were rare and far in between, so they took Mira’s willingness to babysit as a gift. 

As the vid made its way to the end, Liara found her own way in the crook of Shepard’s neck, barely even paying attention to the screen. “So, Shepard…” she whispered, looking up.

“Yeah?” 

“Want to take advantage of the situation?” 

“Oh, so you would exploit your own daughter’s efforts to make your other daughter sleep while we have a wild night of unhinged sex and depravation?” 

Liara’s face didn’t move an inch. “Yes, I definitely would.” 

“Uh, Doctor T’Soni, you naughty girl… Alright, let’s see if she managed to put Lena to sleep. Short of using sleeping pills, I don’t think she’ll make it.” 

But despite her grim anticipations, Mira managed indeed to wear Lena out enough to put her to sleep without hysterical crying and attempts to make her parents crumble and take her to bed with them. The little blue kid knew how to bribe her parents, even at barely eight months of age, she could make them crumble despite their hardened exterior, honed in the cruelest and bloodiest war the Galaxy had ever seen. They just couldn’t resist those big green eyes when they were full of fat, crocodile tears.

When she and Liara walked by the little one’s room, they found Lena already fast asleep, tucked in her bed for the night, with Mira sitting on the carpet beside her reading her a story from one of her own favourite books when she was a child, an old physical copy of Perrault’s fairy tales Kasumi had gifted her when she was born. 

“Look at that!” whispered Shepard, wrapping an arm around Liara’s shoulders and pulling her close as they peeked into the room. “She’s better than I thought!”

“Oh Shepard, you should know better than underestimate her. She’s your daughter after all!” replied Liara

“I think she’s got all her best quirks from you.” 

Liara leaned closer and gave her a quick kiss. “But her temper is you, everything down to her bad tendency to headbutt people.” 

“Oh come on, I’ve done it once. Twice, tops.” 

Liara chuckled. “That’s because you black out when you drink. And I had to stop you from ever going out again with Grunt and Wrex after you got that concussion!” 

She smirked. “Touchè.” She squeezed her shoulder a little tighter. “Come on, let me take a quick shower then I’ll join you in bed.” 

Her wife smiled. “Looking forward to it!”

In that moment, Mira closed the door and stood up, walking to the shelf to set the book in its place. “And with that, I’m out.” 

“Looks more like she is!” replied Shepard. “Good job! How did you do it?” 

“Lots and lots of biotics involved. Good thing we had that chinese takeout and there’s leftovers, I fear I will have to take a midnight snack! How do you do it every night?” 

“Lots of patience and sometimes we cave in and let her sleep with us,” said Liara. “She’s quite a bit more attached than you were at her age, you’ve always been more independent, even as a child.” 

“A brand new parenting experience then, uh? You’re lucky then that Dad’s physically a lot younger than her actual age! Damn, two years dead did wonders on you!”

Shepard chuckled. “Two years dead, extensive cybernetic implants that keep me alive and needs continuous fine tuning… nearly three years of PT to get back at a normal life after an attempted Reaper indoctrination and then more implants… yeah, wonders. Sometimes I think I’m more geth than human.” 

“Hey, your last check up said you’re at least twenty years younger than your ID says, I wouldn’t be too crossed about it.” exclaimed Mira. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and take possession of the couch with the leftovers and a vid or two. Good night!” 

\--------------

A while later, with Shepard finally showered and ready for bed, she climbed beneath the covers beside Liara and relaxed on the pillows. “Not a bad way to initiate shore leave.” 

“She couldn’t be here when she was born, she wants to get as much time with her as she can.” 

“Yeah, I know… parental leave is hard enough to obtain when by your cultural standard you’re not considered a father, let alone… sorority leave, I guess. She’s doing very well though, Lena is pretty attached to her, I’m surprised, given the little time they have spent together.” 

“It’s quite normal for Asari sisters, most of all if they’re born so close in time like them.” 

“Ah, close in time? Mira is 22!” 

“And by Asari standards she’s nothing more than a toddler. A very competent toddler, but still…” 

Shepard ran her hands through her still damp hair. “Sometimes I forget you girls live so long. It skews your perception, you know?” 

“I know Shepard, we’ve been having this conversation for the better part of the past thirty years, cyclically, about twice a year.” 

“Yes, I know, you never forget to mention it, every single time. Speaking about time…” she grabbed the datapad Liara was holding and set in on the nightstand, before quickly climbing on top of her wife, straddling her hips and leaning down to kiss her. “How about we take advantage of Lena being asleep and Mira downstairs?” 

With a soft biotic push, Liara closed the door of their room and smiled up at Shepard. “Admiral Shepard that sounds like a very good idea!”

It had been a very long while since they had a moment together as a couple and not as parents, or as a high official of the Alliance Navy and her wife and the pent up frustration quickly got the worst of them and soon they became tangled with one another, the first stages of the meld already buzzing around them as they quickly divested each other of the little clothes they were wearing… only to be brutally interrupted by an ear piercing shrill coming from the other side of the corridor. 

“Oh Jesus on stick come on!” cried out Shepard, abruptly rolling of Liara and making a quick work at dressing herself again. “I thought she was sleeping for good!”

Liara winced as Lena cried out again, louder this time. “I guess we were spoiled with Mira, she slept through the night from a very young age!” Her voice was the sound of frustration. 

“Yeah, I guess…” 

“Mom, Dad, need help?” called Mira from downstairs.

Using her biotics, Shepard opened the door to answer. “No sweetie don’t worry, I’ll go!” she called. “I’ll try to be quick, Liara. Maybe we can get back at it?”

“Oh my dear after a cold shower like that it will take a long while to convince me, but if you’re up to the challenge…” 

“With you? I’m always up to the challenge! Also, I’ll be gone for a week, so yes, we’re getting back at it when I’m done!”

She rushed in Lena’s room and picked her up from her bed, cradling her infant daughter against her chest. “Oh baby, what’s going on? Why are you so upset? What is it? You can’t be hungry, you ate all my chicken and half of Mommy’s noodles! And your soup! What do you want more, some potstickers? You’re gonna have to pry them from your sister’s hands and the Goddess only knows she’s possessive about her leftover dumplings!”

Her voice seemed to calm down the baby, enough for her to stop bawling her eyes out and reduce her cried to pitiful whimpers as she looked up at her father, lips pursed in a hard pout and cheeks streaked with tears. Shepard smiled and wiped them from her eyes with her thumb. “Hey, that’s better, don’t you think?” Reaching blindly behind her, she grabbed a tissue from a box on the changing table and cleaned the snot from her little button nose. “Come on, give daddy a smile!”

Lena scrunched her little face tighter, threatening to let out another ear-piercing shriek. “Oh baby…” Shepard murmured as she started pacing around the room, gently rocking Lena in her arms. “Don’t tell me you’ve got a colic, you haven’t had those in months!” 

The gentle movement seemed to calm her enough to repel the crying, at least for the moment. “Good girl. You got over excited uh? Mira got you all worked up, made you crash all of a sudden and then you woke up again… rookie mistake, we’ve gotta train her a little better. She doesn’t know your drills yet.” 

She was quickly relaxing, cried once again reduced to small whimpers, eyes drooping closed more and more often as they paced. “There you go, there’s my good girl.” A long strand of red hair fell from behind her ear right in front of Lena’s eyes and her tiny chubby hand went to grasp it and pull down, as she always do. “Yes baby, daddy’s hair is very fascinating and you’re going to grow up and be forever jealous of it, just like your sister.” 

Finally, she gave her a droopy smile and Shepard felt very accomplished with her feat. “But it’s…” She turned to check the clock on the table and winced. They really stayed up way beyond their usual bedtime, no wonders Lena was having troubles sleeping. “It’s 3 AM and daddy has to go to the Citadel first thing in the morning and headbutt some councilors for the next week or so. Daddy’s not going to see mommy for a while so I really,  _ really _ need you to behave so I can go back to bed and have some private playtime with mommy all by oursel…” 

“This is the grossest thing I’ve ever heard and now I’m scarred for life!” exclaimed Mira from the doorway. She was walking to her room carrying a mug of something with her. “Did you use to say that crap to me too when I was little?” 

Shepard was caught off guard by the interruption and got startled, causing Lena to squirm in her arms, but she regained her composure quickly. 

“Oh baby don’t worry, if sleeping in our room on the Normandy for the first year and a half of your life didn’t scar you for your next thousand years, I definitely don’t think  _ this _ will!” she rebutted. 

Mira jaw dropped and she gasped in horror. “Wait, what?” 

* * *

With a little effort, Shepard managed to put Lena to sleep for good and got back to bed. Liara was still awake, reading something on her datapad. “Hey, mission accomplished?” 

Shepard stretched her back and then quickly slid under the duvet. “Mission accomplished.” 

“I saw Mira walk by a few minutes ago. She saw I was awake but didn’t even stop to say goodnight, did you guys have a fight?”

“Nah, just some quality parenting on my part. Your dad would be proud. Now, where were we?” 

Needless to say, breakfast next morning was a little awkward, and Liara never found out why. 


	3. Tevos Can Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long day of politics and an even longer night of diplomacy, Shepard comes home late and someone's really happy to see her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usually, text by IllusiveWritings and illustration by shipsnthenight

What a hell of a day. Back to back meetings with Alliance brass then the same thing with the Turian army until barely thirty minutes earlier wrecked her. Somehow she found herself wishing she was still on active duty and not grounded due to medical issues, being an admiral sometimes just plainly sucked, between office work and meetings all day long, sometimes even into the night wasn’t the life she had imagined she would have lived at just shy of 36 years of age. The majority of the Alliance soldiers of her age were still on active duty, not stuck in an endless loop of boring politics and administrative issues.

And in a few hours, the cycle would start again, but with the Council! Who the hell had the idea to book an early morning meeting with the Council?

Oh, yeah… Admiral Jane Shepard, the same Admiral Jane Shepard that was now dragging her worn out, aching body down the hallway to her apartment on the Citadel. 

When she finally opened the front door and slipped in the foyer it was already two in the morning and her home was dark and quiet, the silence broken only by the muted sounds of the streets outside and the dim neon lights filtering through the curtains at the living room windows to light her way as she went through her usual routine. 

Silent and almost blinded by weariness, she took off her jacket and slipped her heavy boots off then she put them in their allotted spots beside the door without much care. Liara’s long coat hung beside her own Alliance-issue jacket, perfectly secured to the hook hanging on the wall by the appropriate gusset, while Shepard couldn’t care less about the old, ruined heavy duty dark blue coat. She was actually quite surprised that in her almost sleepwalking state she hadn’t precariously hung it by a sleeve. 

With a sigh, she turned towards the stars and walked towards them, stretching her back in the process with a soft groan as she felt her bones pop and crack in places. Her neck felt like a steel rivet, her tendons and her traps were so tight she could feel the beginning of a tension headache forming behind her eyes. She needed some shut eye and she needed it fast before she crashed on the stairs on the way to her bedroom. For a moment, she considered the idea of just foregoing the climbing up the stairs and simply sleep on the couch, but those days were long gone. 

Despite the weariness, the headache and the bone deep boredom of the day, coming home now meant more than just having a roof over her head and a flat surface with a pillow where to sleep. There was Liara of course, the young Asari archeologist turned Shadow Broker that was now her lawful wedded wife currently sleeping in the master bedroom, but in the room just in front of theirs there was someone else that now occupied a very important place in her life. 

Mira Benezia T’Soni Shepard.

The greatest early birthday present she could have ever wished for. Born just three days before her own birthday, Mira was now approaching her first full spin around the sun in human time measuring and was quickly growing into quite an opinionated child, with a tough temper and even a stronger grasp. Her chubby little hands would often find their way into her hair and pull hard enough to make her wince, but there was no way she could hold even the slightest grudge against the child. Well, maybe she could hold a teeny tiny little grudge on the fact that she had decided to make an appearance two weeks earlier than predicted and had forced Shepard to hijack the Normandy and force Joker to violate pretty much every galactic traffic law to get to the Citadel in time for her birth. That was something she would hold against Mira every time she would misbehave in the future, in a funny way though. 

And there she was, in her tiny N7 onesie gently provided by Vega a few months back, wide awake in her cot, her green eyes sparkling with unshed tears and her lower lip quivering. 

“Goddess Mira what’s going on?” Shepard whispered as she picked her little girl up in her arms and held up against her shoulder, gently rubbing circles against her back to soothe her. Mira’s tiny arms wrapped around her neck and held tightly as if she was afraid of something. “Did you have a nightmare?” she asked softly, feeling the baby’s tears finally coming down her cheeks and wetting her t-shirt beneath the open collar of her Alliance High Uniform, her breath coming up in shaky puffs and huffs. “Are you hurt? Oh baby, I so wish you would talk already, it’s mommy that knows what happens with you, I’m not so good with you…”

Apparently though, all it took was just holding her and Mira calmed almost immediately. Her breathing evened quickly and she sniffled a little bit against Shepard’s shirt. Some slimy snot soaked through the cloth as the little girl burrowed her face in her father’s shoulder, who promptly sighed and shook her head. “And another shirt becomes a snot cloth. Thanks Mira…” 

The baby giggled a little when she gently pushed a finger in her armpit and wiggled it to tickle her and she squirmed in her arms to get away from it. Once the tickling stopped, she let out a loud, wheezing sigh and sagged against Shepard, finally calm, eyes droopy and jaw slack as she desperately fought sleepiness. “There you go, baby… how about I put you back to bed so I can sleep too?” 

But the moment Shepard bent over the cot to put Mira down to sleep, the little girl went rigid in her arms and let out a small, scared whimper, her little fingers clasping at the neck of her t-shirt for dear life. “Alright, alright…” Shepard whispered in her ear, bouncing her up a little as she stood straight. “I guess tonight you’re sleeping with mommy and daddy!”

_ You better not get used to it… _ she thought as she shuffled towards the master bedroom. Liara seemed undisturbed in her sleep and Shepard did her best not to wake her as she set Mira on the bed so she could change in her sleep attire. The baby, a very good crawler and most recently a decent walker too, rolled herself towards the center of her bed and started pawing at her mother with little regard for her own need for sleep. Before Shepard could stop her, Liara had already opened her eyes. “What… What’s going on?” she asked, her voice a groggy whisper. 

“Nothing, Mira had a nightmare and wants to sleep with us. Just that.” 

Smiling, she gently ran her palm over her daughter’s forehead and crests, earning a blissful sigh from the baby. “What time is it?”

“Too late. Turians have no regards for circadian rhythms of other species.” Finally out of the constrictive trousers and the heavy jacket, she slipped into more comfortable clothes and then straight beneath the covers. “You come here, let mommy rest!” she exclaimed, pulling Mira away from Liara and setting the baby closer to her. The kid quickly settled beside her father, resting her head on the pillow while Shepard set the duvet over them both. She looked up at her parents as they briefly kissed goodnight and patiently waited for her own time for a kiss on her forehead before she finally closed her eyes. “Goodnight Liara.” 

“‘night Shepard…” 

* * *

The next morning, when Liara woke with the alarm clock, the first thing she did was checking on her wife and their child. The two were the spitting image of each other, different species notwithstanding. Both curled on their left side, Shepard’s arm protectively wrapped around Mira’s legs to keep her from rolling away in her sleep, their hands curled in a similar if not same way, as their jaws slack against the pillow, drooling into the satin case beneath them. It was such a beautiful picture she didn't have the heart to wake them, even knowing that Garrus would be there in half an hour to pick Shepard up for the meeting with the Council. 

They would have to wait.

Careful not to wake them, on a rare morning when even Mira would sleep in, she stood from the bed and moved to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee and check the news and the Shadow Broker’s information network. Glyph, ever the smart VI, had already grouped the most important facts available on both public broadcasting and her private systems. It had been a slow night on both sides, with little happening galaxy-wide and even less coming in from her agents. She then checked her private email, reading through a long letter from Miranda detailing the work she had been doing on Earth with Oriana to help make the technology that kept Shepard alive available on mass production scale to serve in medicine and even make it work on other species. The two sisters, no matter how different, were a force to be reckoned with when they were working on something, and after the rebuilding on Earth had been completed and Shepard was back on her feet, up and running as usual or close to the usual, they both went back at working on the tech that had allowed her to walk again trying to take it mass production and distribution at a fraction of the cost it took to bring Shepard back from the dead and put her back again after the war and wounds she had suffered almost left her crippled. 

Apparently, they were proceeding way faster than they had thought, mostly thanks to Liara and the funds she discreetly shoved their way from time to time. It was a Cerberus-like type of funding, which meant unlimited credits if the Illusive Man thought it would be worth it, but it was enough. Barely four years after the war, one couldn’t really expect that kind of spending, even from the Shadow Broker. 

She was halfway through a very technical explanation on how to reduce both the cost and the production time on a specific chipset when the doorbell rang. Garrus was there, and he wouldn’t like what she was about to say.

When she opened the door, she immediately noticed he was jittery and nervous even before he spoke. “Oh, hi Liara. Is Shepard ready?” 

Steadying herself, Liara shook her head. “She’s still asleep.” 

“Asleep? What do you mean she’s still in bed!? We’re already late Liara!” he exclaimed, slipping in the apartment and heading straight upstairs to the master bedroom.

“I’m sorry Garrus!” she replied following him. “She got in very late last night and I couldn’t bring myself to wake her this morning! She’s exhausted and she’s just one person! The council will have to deal with it.”

“Oh come on Liara! The days of your wife hanging up on the Council are over, we’re responsible people now! I’m going to get her up myself!” he laughed shoving the bedroom door open.

“No wait Garrus…”

“Hey Shep… Oh!” His face turned from slightly annoyed to a full smile in a split second, a  _ blink and you’ll miss it _ moment in which his angular features softened so fast Liara barely had the time to see the change. “Oh… that’s cute!”

Liara sighed. “Right? Now you see why I let her sleep?”

Garrus sighed and closed the door, the latch barely making an audible click as he did so. “Y’know what? You’re right. Councilor Tevos can wait a bit longer.”


End file.
